STAY INFORMED
Must Watch Videos
Top 10 Manly Christmas Gifts for Men (2015 Edition)
It’s time for the 2015 Manly Christmas Gift Guide!
For the sixth year in a row, I am featuring the Top Ten Manly Christmas Gifts for Men – stuff that men want but don’t ask for.
* If you received this post by email, you’ll want to click “Always Display Images” in your email client so that you can see the manly gift images.
Every year you’ve come to expect it, and every year I get ready for angry liberals complaining about my advocacy for pocket knives, guns, scotch, pipes, and leather.
[callout]After doing this list for six years, I now get stopped by wives who say, “Thanks for your annual Men’s Christmas Gift Guide. My husband loved the thermos and knife that you recommended.” Recently, a Catholic dad related to me, “My wife followed your Christmas manly gift guide. Thanks for recommending the scotch decanter. I love it.” Last year we even caused Amazon to sell out of pocket Bibles.[/callout]
Like last year I have an improved list with more information on knives and how a lady can choose the right knife for the men in her life.
Men, it’s not bad taste to forward this post to your wife’s email account.
When your man gets back to work after Christmas and someone asks, “So what did you get for Christmas?” let him say something more than “Oh you know, a couple of new shirts and a tie.”
Top Ten Manly Christmas Gifts for Men (drumroll…)
Below is a guide for Manly Christmas Gifts: your husband, brother, or grandpa. Seriously, you can’t wrong with the following ten gifts. They’re all winners. So here we go:
10) Cigarette Case for Business Cards
Almost every man carries his business cards in his wallet where they get rounded corners, warped, and stained. Those last 2 or 3 business cards in your wallet have been sat on thousands of times. Nobody wants that. So instead…
Place your business cards nicely in a cigarette case!
Nothing says “cool” like a cigarette case – but few men smoke cigarettes…so why not get one anyway and fill it with business cards?
- First of all, your cards will remain fresh, crisp and unabused.
- Secondly, you’ll look totally legit when you pull out an old school Victorian cigarette case and give someone your business card.
This gift idea is something that men will love and will later reflect, “Why didn’t I think of this earlier?”
Get him the Victorian Etched Cigarette Case by clicking here.
9) Timeless Thermos for the Outdoors
This “Manly Christmas Gift” also has a backstory:
I was fly-fishing in Montana in October. It was fun, but it was cold. I was catching monster trout, but my body temp was diving.
Our fishing guide pulled out three timeless thermoses from his bag. They could have been 100 years old. They were beautiful. He offered us coffee or, get this, hot chicken broth to drink from these old beautiful thermoses. I don’t drink coffee, so I reached for the chicken broth. Wow. It warmed me from the inside out.
I admired the fly fishing guide’s amazing collection of thermoses. “They just don’t make them like that anymore.”
Well now they do. Check out this beautiful thermos from Stanley for only 24.99.
8) Shoe Shine Valet and Kit
Call me prejudicial but I judge a man by his shoes. When I interview an employee or intern, the first things I look at are his hair and his shoes. A great looking suit can be ruined by scuffed shoes. A man must learn to care for his leather.
The Marshall Rule of Thumb is: “Don’t buy a $100 pair of church shoes every year for 5 years ($500 over 5 years), but buy a nice $350 pair of shoes every 5 years ($350 over 5 years). The only way that works is if you shine your expensive shoes. If you don’t shine shoes, don’t waste money on solid shoes.
Step 1 is having the right valet. I have one that looks like this:
Your heel hooks on the lid and you (or ideally your 13 year old son) spit shines your shoes right there on the box. The box holds all your polish so that it stays clean. I don’t know how I shined shoes before having a box like this: Kiwi Shine Kit WITH VALET BOX for $39.
7) Money Clip that also holds Credit Cards
Lots of men have started thanking me for recommending this money clip. I should have bought stock in this company.
I really, really, really love this money clip. I finally gave up the big fat back-breaking leather wallet and now carry this minimal lightweight money clip. It holds my drivers license, my concealed carry gun license, and my business and personal cards. I don’t know how I lived without this clip before.
This money clip is the perfect stocking stuffer for teens and men:
Here it is on amazon: Money clip that holds credit cards.
6) A Good Novel (WARNING: shameless personal plug below)
This #1 Amazon Bestselling historical (Catholic) fiction novel:
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000037_00042]](https://taylormarshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bookcover_99designsedit_2_noseal-Kindle-cropped-193x300.jpg)
Sword and Serpent has a lot of women fans, but it’s an uber-manly about historical Roman figures: Constantine, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, Diocletian, et al.
This Kindle version includes a map and other cool stuff. If he likes war, Rome, history, battles, legend, etc. then he’ll love Sword and Serpent.
[callout]SAMPLE REVIEW: Excellent book ! I read this with my 13 year old son and it provided inspiration for him and great father-son bonding time for both of us ! (He usually HATES reading but says this was the best book he has read). It evokes a variety of emotions. Poignant, thought-provoking, humorous, inspirational, and exciting all in one ! It is a historical FICTION though. The author places the various characters (though true people in the same time period) in contact with each other though there may be no historical evidence of association. But it works for a great story. An added plus is a glossary at the end for those readers with limited knowledge of vocabulary referring to the Roman military or architecture or other Latin terms used in the book.[/callout]
This historical fictional novel is 100% clean but it does have some blood and death it. Not recommended for audiences under the age of 12.
Read a sample or read over 260 5 star reviews about Sword and Serpent by clicking here.
5) A Nice Leatherbound Pocket Bible
This is another great gift that makes the list year after year. About 30 years ago, people starting making lame paperback Bibles. If it’s the inspired, inerrant Word of God, at least wrap it in real leather and gild the page edges…
Here is the one you need to get him. It’s Douay Rheims (Catholic, yet old school language), but it’s only Psalms and New Testament published by Baronius. It fits perfectly into the side pocket of a suit or blazer. I carry it in my sports coat, and it holds up to use. It’s absolutely beautiful and has a ribbon to mark your place.
Did I mention that it’s only 27.95?
[callout]UPDATE: If you want the entire not just the Psalms and New Testament, get his: Full Douay Rheims Leather Bible.[/callout]
Oh, and please buy him the black leather version. If you buy him a white Bible, you might as well throw in ballet lessons and a brassiere.
Baronius also makes an impressive real leather Family Bible. This is the exact Bible that the Marshall family reads from for Advent and family devotionals at night. I’ve done a lot of research and this is the one that every Catholic home should have. Baronius makes wonderful Bibles.
4) A Hip Flask
Here’s the situation: Life in the American South calls for attending Baptist weddings. Baptist wedding receptions are dry. Yes, I know, if Our Lord Jesus Christ were there, he would turn the water into wine, but that policy is not observed at teatotalling wedding receptions…so…he needs this:
An 8 oz hip flask. It’s stainless and the perfect size.
Let’s do the math, a normal serving of scotch is 1.5 oz. So 8 oz / 1.5 oz = 5.33 servings. With this hip flask, you can save the day for your man and four of his friends. How cool is that. Scotch sold separately.
Get this perfectly sized hip flask on amazon.com.
PS: Don’t forget to also get the hip flask funnel or he may get irritated trying to fill the tiny mouth of the flask and spill some! Here’s the funnel – sold separately.
3) The Gift of Catholic Theology and Leadership: NSTI
Western culture is literally rotting away because authentic male leadership has evaporated. Christianity in many places is transforming into a sentimental and weak form of Churchianity – performing Church without a vital and virtuous connection to Jesus Christ. We need men to take the lead at the parish and in the home , but a man can only take lead IF HE KNOWS THE CATHOLIC FAITH WITH HEART AND HIS HEAD.
For over 2 years, we at the New Saint Thomas Institute have been delivering high quality, HD video Catholic theology courses online to over 2,000 students in 50 nations. It’s real orthodox theology based on Scripture and the Church Fathers. Logic, not emotion, is stressed. And our classes are usually only 10 minutes long – designed for the busy person on the go. Classes can be watched on computer, tablet, or listened to on iPhone/Android or via bluetooth.
If you’re a reader of mine, but not yet a Member of the New Saint Thomas Institute, please sign up. NSTI is where I now do the core of my theological teaching and leadership. Here’s a sample from our Apologetics training module:
Tuition is without contract or long time commitments. It’s month to month like Netflix and you can earn a Certificate in Catholic Theology as you finish our theological modules (Thomas Aquinas, Mariology, Christology, Eucharistic Theology). After two years, we have a 97% student retention rate, so you know we’re legit.
Sign up as student at the New Saint Thomas Institute by clicking here.
Your Top 2 Manly Christmas Gifts
Like last year, the top Manly Christmas Gifts are Knives. The knife is the most popular manly Christmas gift – year after year. I tried to think of something that would knock it out of first place. I couldn’t do it.
A man without pocket knife…woe is he. You can use a pocket knife to cut string, pull out splinters, slice apples on a picnic, etc. Growing up, my dad always carried a knife in his pocket. And if a thug jumps you, you’ve got something rather than nothing.
You can slip a knife into his Christmas stocking and he’ll be thrilled when he discovers it. It will be the first time in a long time that he had a toy to play with on Christmas morning. If you have a son who’s coming of age, you should slip a Swiss Army knife into his stocking. If you get your husband a knife for Christmas, he can use it all morning to open up Christmas gifts, toys, cards, and packages. He’ll be happy to use his new gift all morning.
I’m recommending two knives this year depending on your need:
2) An Every Day Carry Knife for the pocket of his jeans and khakis
1) Swiss Army Knife (especially for your 8-18 year old young man)
See details below:
2) The Everyday Carry Knife: Ken Onion Tactical
This is the knife that a man carries in his pocket every single day. With this knife he opens mail, cuts string, cuts tags off clothing, removes splinters, and all the other odd jobs suited for a knife.
My one criteria for an “every day carry” or “EDC” is that it have a pocket clip that keeps it from falling out of your trousers at the baseball game. The other important thing about an every day carry knife is that it be lightweight. You don’t want to carry a heavy lump in your jeans pocket. The pocket clip also keeps the knife high in your pocket so it’s comfortable whenever you sit down or drive.
This is the one in my pocket! I recommend the Kershaw’s Ken Onion Tactical as your every day carry.
1) Swiss Army for Younger Men and Boys
If your man is a gadget guy then he’s probably a fan of the multi-tool or Swiss Army.
These are the knives that have many, many other tools attached: bottle opener, saw, tweezers, toothpick, pliers, etc. The Swiss Army knife if perfect for a boy’s first knife (age seven). If he’s reached the age of reason, he should have a knife.
PS: If you want your man and/or boy to get out into the outdoors and use their knifes, then check out our new Catholic bushcraft apostolate for priests, fathers and sons: The Troops of Saint George! He’ll learn how to use a knife, start a fire without matches, and prayers in Latin. It’s legit, strenuous, and fun. Start a Troop in your town or parish. We have a TSG starter kit waiting for you.
Dive Deeper
GET CONFIDENT IN YOUR FAITH
Explore the fascinating world of Catholic teachings with Dr. Marshall. Together you’ll unpack the brilliant answers the Church gives to tough questions about the Faith. The best part: you go at your own pace. Start this exciting journey today.